Maya Angelou’s Unique Self Essay - 2562 Words

All of childhood’s unanswered questions must finally be passed back to the town and answered there. Heroes and bogey men, values and dislikes, are first encountered and labeled in that early environment. In later years they change faces, places, and maybe races, tactics, intensities and goals, but beneath those penetrable masks they wear forever the stocking-capped faces of childhood (Angelou, 2009, p.20). In Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, she recounts her early years as a young girl growing up in Stamps, Arkansas who faces displacement, trauma, and prejudice. It is through her character and artistic expression that she is able to overcome the trauma of her childhood and evolve into the distinguished and†¦show more content†¦According to Erikson, there are four aspects of identity: religious, political, vocational, and sexual (Berger, 2011, p.434). As we experience Angelou’s autobiographical tale we encounter three importa nt women who helped shaped those four aspects within her identity: Annie Henderson, Vivian Baxter, and Bertha Flowers. The following essay will analyze the impact made by Annie Henderson, Vivian Baxter, and Bertha Flowers on Erikson’s four aspects of identity: religious, political, vocational, and sexual. Maya Angelou begins her story before she has even begun to explore her own identity or the woman she will become. The first chapter begins, When I was three and Bailey four, we had arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed – â€Å"To Whom It May Concern† – that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson (Angelou, 2009, p.5). It is her that we are first introduced to Annie Henderson, or Momma, the primary care-giver during Maya’s early years that would be a key figure in shaping her identity. Annie Henderson is Maya’s grandmother. Maya describes her in the subjective of her childhood, â€Å"People spoke of Momma as a good-looking woman and some, who remembered her youth, said she used to be right pretty. I saw only her power and strength (Angelou, 2009, p.46).† Yolanda Manora’s (2005) analysis of the novel suggests that Angelou’s portrayal of MommaShow MoreRelatedMaya Angelou1001 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, Ill rise. Have you ever been so influenced by such a small amount of powerful words? This brilliant quote extracted from Maya Angelous own poem, Still I Rise, basically brings out the spirit and nature of each of her publications. Maya Angelous works of poetry are seen as inspiration for those who have been discriminated for their public appearances. AsRead MoreDisplacement, a Theme in Maya Angelou ´s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings1603 Words   |  6 Pagespersonality. Maya Angelou creates a theme of displacement in her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelous novel has been critiqued by many notable scholars for being a classic autobiography. The critics note the importance of the setting to show universal displacement and the use of characterization to display the influences in Angelous life. The critics also note that Angelous diction and tone al low her pain and suffering to be evident throughout her novel and into her life. Angelous use ofRead MoreEssay on Maya Angelou1185 Words   |  5 PagesDistress in Maya Angelous Life Marguerite Ann Johnson, commonly known as Maya Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a famous African-American poet, novelist, and playwright and also worked during the civil rights: Angelou is a very remarkable Renaissance woman who hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature (www.mayaangelou.com). She is also an activist in civil-rights. Angelou went through many controversies during her childhood and adulthood; herRead MoreMaya Angelou: A Model Woman Through Influential Literature Essay1708 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence on society itself. Maya Angelou is a great example of the model woman. She has beaten the odds and has become one of the most well known African American women of today. She is an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist. Her most influential work comes from her extraordinary books and poems. Her literature has influenced the young and old with their contents. Maya Angelous literary significanceRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou1391 Words   |  6 PagesMaya Angelou’s debut autobiography is an article of literature that depicts the life of a young black girl growing up in a world pitted against her, and the resilience she found in herself in order to survive. Angelou is a voice that is not often heard. In a world dominated by a white male narrative, the plights of the minority are often overshadowed. Thus, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an imperative novel as it articulates the life of not only Angelou, but also of the unique experiences thatRead MoreThemes Of The American Dream748 Words   |  3 PagesWhy the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, and â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† by Martin Luther King Jr. All three of these examples feature individuals who defy what society expects of them in favor of pursuing lives of their own choice, and as a result embody the A merican Dream. The American Dream is to have the freedom to pursue whatever type of life one desires, regardless of the background or expectations someone comes from, just as Maya Angelou, Chris McCandless,Read MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Analysis840 Words   |  4 Pages There is one person that is a civil rights activist, memoirist, a poet and above all a woman, this person is none other than Maya Angelou. Angelou has been a famous American poet since the release of her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Angelou has inspired many people by telling her life story to the public, but not only did she inspire, she also created a very different and personal point of view of the world we live in. The poem’s she has written transition from painRead More Comparing In Search of Our Mothers Gardens and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings1145 Words   |  5 PagesGardens and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings      Ã‚  Ã‚   Alice Walker and Maya Angelou are two contemporary African-American writers.   Although almost a generation apart in age, both women display a remarkable similarity in their lives.   Each has written about her experiences growing up in the rural South, Ms. Walker through her essays and Ms. Angelou in her autobiographies.   Though they share similar backgrounds, each has a unique style which gives to us, the readers, the gift of their exquisite humanityRead MoreLiterary Elements Of Maya Angelou1976 Words   |  8 PagesLiterary Elements of Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was a writer and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.† As a young child Angelou witnessed her parents’ divorce and she and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. While in Arkansas, she constantly experienced racism and discrimination, and she was able to translate the emotions that she felt, intoRead MorePhenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou1577 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Phenomenal Woman† by Maya Angelou is an inspiring poem which embraces such a strong message of Maya Angelou being proud of whom she is that all women ought to read over and over again. Maya Angelou (1928) is a talented African American. She mostly writes from experience, and this poem falls perfectly in that category. First published in 1978, â€Å"Phenomenal Woman† is an anthem of womens strength in their own womanhood. It tells us ab out how the inner beauty makes a woman respected by the others. The

The United States Involvement During The Civil War

In the year of 1898, Spain declared war on the United States. The U.S. prime objective was for the true Cuban independence. In pursuing such goal, the string of conflicts began with the inhumane treatment of Cuban civilians in concentration camps by the Spanish, ‘yellow journalism,† and the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine. The United States involvement in the war was a combination of all of these factors; however, the most influential factor was the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine. The outrage of American citizens advanced throughout the country. Ultimately, the firm perception of a deliberate attack on the Maine pressured the United States into the war. Without a clear rationale, the American public compelled the United States to avenge the Maine. After a short four-month war, United States won the war and emerged as a dominant force in the world. The Spanish-American war centers around many contributing elements. The first of these events was the reconcentration policy. General Weyler was put in charge to stop Cuban rebels from expanding. Such policy â€Å"was intended to protect the noncombatant peasantry of the island, but his sole object was to compel them to put themselves wholly in the power of the Spanish officials† (White). The policy forced all rural district civilians to move into cities and towns that were still under Weyler’s control. Moreover, Weyler concluded that this would prevent civilians from assisting rebels with information or food. He enforced the concentrationShow MoreRelatedPresident John F. Kennedy : A War On Poverty And The So Called Great Society1021 Words   |  5 PagesKennedy announced his New Frontier domestic program. 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Finally, we will look at which foreignRead MoreU.s. Involvement : An Argumentative Essay1130 Words   |  5 PagesU.S. Involvement in Syria: an Argumentative Essay Breaking news! US strikes Syrian military airfield in first direct assault on Assad government (Vanden Brook paragraph 1.) Syria has been at war with itself for six years and dozens of countries are stepping in to â€Å"make a difference.† When Syria’s Civil War broke out in 2011, the U.S. aided the rebels with non lethal supplies but the assistance soon shifted to training, funding, and intelligence. The U.S. has a specific goal in Syria, to retainRead More Vietnam: The Mixture of Protests and Politics1659 Words   |  7 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The United States was unjustified in its involvement in the Vietnam War because, in my opinion, the U.S had little justification to sacrifice thousands of innocent youths for political ideals. It was the longest and most unpopular war in which the United States fought. Many Americans on the home front protested their government’s involvement in the war. Many young Americans felt that there was no reason to fight for a cause they did not believe in, especially in suchRead MoreThe United States As A Foreign Power During The 19th Century1292 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States as a Foreign Power during the 19th Century The Declaration of Independence established the self-evident truths that the laws of nature entailed. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness became rights to every person in the eyes of Americans. As the 20th century approached and America’s international affairs expanded, the natural rights declared by Americans was challenged globally. 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College App Free Essays

â€Å"Where are you from? † My stomach tightens and my mouth goes dry as I rack my brain for an answer that doesn’t Involve explaining my entire life story. My anxiety over such a simple question may seem unnecessary, but I have spent the past seventeen years trying to come up with a suitable answer to that same question. I have grown up a proud daughter of a united States Army soldier, and in my father’s line of work, never knowing where we’ll be sent next is part of the job description. We will write a custom essay sample on College App or any similar topic only for you Order Now I was born in New York and from there moved to Georgia. Then we moved to Rhode Island, back to New York, Kansas, Virginia, and finally Washington. That’s seven states. Not to mention, I have attended six different public schools and lived in seven different houses. You could say I’ve always been the new girl. My life is not Just in brown cardboard boxes though; it’s picking up and moving at any given time. What can I say In response to this question? Should I say the snow drifts in New York because that’s where I was born? Or should I say the rolling hills of Kansas because three years Is the longest Vive spent In one place? Some may feel sorry for me, but I couldn’t Imagine Miming any other way. We are not defined by a geographic location, but rather the challenges we face and how we learn from them. Unexpected deployments and goodbyes have shown me that some lessons are harder than others, but I know that I am heading towards a bright future. Through my travels I have experienced a wide range of cultures and lifestyles that some can only dream of. Being an Army brat has made me adaptable, flexible, and empathic. So, a simple answer to this question Just wouldn’t do my story Justice. I take a deep breath, smile, and say â€Å"I’m from everywhere. † How to cite College App, Papers

Economic Development

Question: Write an essay on the article "School attendance, child labour, and remittances from international migration in El Salvador". Answer: Article 1: School attendance, child labor, and remittances from international migration in El Salvador (Acosta, 2011) The main article discussed in this assignment is related with child labor, which is developed by Acosta (2011). The topic of this research work is school attendance, child labor and remittance from international migration in El Salvador. The main purpose of this journal article is to find out the impact of remittance on childrens human capital investment and child labor. It has been found from this research work that, flow of remittance has become one of the major sources of income for various developing countries. International migrant remittances can improve household budget, create opportunity for recipient household. It can increase investment on childrens human capital and can decrease overall child labor, in context of economic growth for developing countries. In this journal article, the data of El Salvador has been used to gain three major outcomes. This article indicated that remittances have null or insignificant impact on the schooling of children. It has been analyzed tha t there is a strong reduction of child wage labor found in the remittance-recipient family. It has also been found that there is a significant amount of unpaid family work activities can be found for children in those households. This journal article also show that there is a significant difference is considered among children depending on their age and gender. It has been found that attendance of girls in schools has been increased due to remittance receipts by reducing labor activities. On the contrary, boys do not get any major benefit from remittance receipts. The data utilized in this research article come from the cross-sectional national representative household survey done in the year of 1998. There are various types of questions have been asked in this survey such as whether the family receives transfers from abroad not. They are also asked about the amount and frequency of transfer as well. From this research work it can be analyzed that recipients and non-recipients of remittance can be differentiated with the help of certain demographic and socio-graphic characteristics. All these differences have attribute in the selection into remitting and selection into migration. It has been found that households that receive remittance certainly vary in accordance to their position in the well-being distribution. On the other hand, non-remittance income is not useful to measure the well-being of a family as it does not count the migrant potential income. In this journal article, a table has been given to find out the impact of remittance on the school attendance rate of children. The traditional OLS (probit) tool has been used for this purpose. In this analysis, children who belong to the age group of 10-18 years are considered, as they have better opportunity to get an outside work than younger children do. In this table in addition to remittance, there are various other factors have been indicated which have impact on the child labor rate. These factors are such as gender, children, socio-economic characteristics and geographic location. It has also been found from the study that children have differ of chances to attend school depending the number of siblings they have. From the conclusion part, it has been found that remittance can affect the human capital of children in developing countries. It has also been found from a research work that remittance have significant impact ion children school attendance on average. It has been found from this research work that incase of school-aged group children the effect of remittance can be negative for educational context. Finally, it can be said that among families remittance do not have same impact on children across age groups and genders. Article 2: International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador (Coc-Edward Ureta, 2003) In the research work developed by Acosta (2011), citation has been given from the journal article developed by Coc-Edward and Ureta (2003). The name of their journal article is international migration, remittance and schooling. For this research, the evidence is also gathered from El Salvador. In this research work, the impact of remittances on familys schooling decisions has been analyzed using data of El Salvador. During 1980s emigration, remittance has become a significant source of income. The sample rate used for this study is 14,286 individuals between the age group of 6 to 24. This survey was done in the year of 1997 and known as Annual Household survey. In this research work, the model of Cox proportional hazard has been used in order to determine the school attendance rate. It has been found from this research work that remittance has significant impact on the school retention of children. It has been found that the impact of remittance changes with the change of demographic location of a family. In case of urban areas, the effect of remittance on schooling is 10 times lesser than its impact in rural areas. It has been found from the research work that, even if parents have low level of schooling subsidized school attendance have grate impact on the schooling rate of children particularly in rural areas. In this research work, the behaviors of families in rural and urban areas have been analyzed. It has been stated in this research work that a major factor cannot be controlled in this analysis, which is the impact of the demand of schooling in urban areas. It has been found that schools are readily available in Urban Areas. For this reason schooling rate in urban areas is automatically high. It has been analyzed from this research work that parental schooling is only covariate with a different impact on the hazard of leaving school at various levels in case of both urban and rural areas. Article 3: Understanding abusive child labor practices in the shadow of the Arab spring (Ganideh Good, 2015) Ganideh and Good (2015) have developed a research work where they used the reference of the journal article developed by Acosta (2011). The topic of their research work is to find out and understand abusive child labor practices in the shadow of the Arab spring. It has been found from this research work that the civil war of Syria has forced thousands of children and women to become refugees in Jordon. It has increased the total amount of child labor dramatically in that country. The aim of this research work is to analyze the issues that the child labors of Jordon are facing presently. In this research work, an investigation has been done to find pout verbal and non-verbal abuses towards the working children. It has also been investigated in a research work that, whether there is any difference between the treatment of Syrian and domestic refugee child labors. In order to conduct this research work in appropriate manner, quantitative research design has been used. Data were gathered from 124 Syrian and Jordanian working children during the year of 2013. It has been found that Jordanian children are forced to worked due to their poverty, while Syrian children were driven to work due to their need for asylum. It has been found that verbal abuse is the most common type issues that child labors have to face. It has also been analyzed in a research work that, children who have unstable family background, older children and the children who work for long hours are most vulnerable to verbal abuse. It has been found form the data analysis that Syrian children are paid much less than Jordanian children and they are less verbally abused. They have better schooling and better working condition in co mparison to their counterparts of Jordon. This research work helps to increase awareness preventing abusive practices towards Syrian and Jordanian children labors. After analyzing all three research works related with child labor it can be stated that, child labor is the activity that disables a child from going school. Child labor is the utilization of human capital, which becomes necessary to increase the standard of living and income (Lu, 2012). A graph has been given below to analyze the situation of child labor in the global market. Figure 1: Graph of child labor (Source: Hu, 2012) From this graph it has been found that 76% of the child labors belong to the age group of 7-14. The percentage of child labor is higher in rural areas (42.7%) rather than urban areas (24.6%) (Hu, 2012). It shows how factors such as geographic location and age group of can affect child labor rate. In most of the countries, it has been found that there is certain percentage of human capital comes from child labor. The major adverse impact of child labor is that it hampers their schooling and education (Adser Tienda, 2012). From the Child Labor report, it has been found that in 1998 there are approximately 2 million children in Mexico were not enrolled in schools due to financial constraints due to poverty (Hu, 2012). It can be stated that these children and their family needs remittance from abroad, which can help them to improve their standard of life. This type of remittance can help these families to understated that child labor is harmful (Alcaraz, Chiquiar Salcedo, 2012). If the ir life standards become improved, then these families might think about enrolling their children in schools instead of sending them to work (Alcaraz, Chiquiar Salcedo, 2012). It has been found that children who work for long hours are vulnerable to abuse. Staying longer hours in this type of severe working condition can cam become an obstacle in the physical and mental development of children. Every child must have the opportunity to grow in safe environment (Gardner, 2012). Hence, it is the responsibility of government to control child labor. They need to understand that making policies are not the appropriate solution. Increasing awareness about the severity of child labor and increase remittance can help to control child labor and increase school attendance rate. Reference list Acosta, P. (2011). School attendance, child labour, and remittances from international migration in El Salvador.Journal of Development Studies,47(6), pp.913-936. Adser, A., Tienda, M. (2012). Comparative perspectives on international migration and child well-being.The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,643(1), pp.6-15. Al Ganideh, S. F., Good, L. K. (2015). Understanding abusive child labor practices in the shadow of the Arab spring.Journal of Childrens Services,10(1), pp.76-91. Alcaraz, C., Chiquiar, D., Salcedo, A. (2012). Remittances, schooling, and child labor in Mexico.Journal of Development Economics,97(1), pp.156-165. Cox, A., Ureta, M. (2003).International migration, remittances, and schooling: evidence from El Salvador. National Bureau of Economic Research. Gardner, K. (2012). Transnational migration and the study of children: An introduction.Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,38(6), pp.889-912. Halliday, T. J. (2012). Intra-household labor supply, migration, and subsistence constraints in a risky environment: Evidence from rural El Salvador.European Economic Review,56(6), 1001-1019. Hu, F. (2012). Migration, remittances, and children's high school attendance: The case of rural China.International Journal of Educational Development,32(3), pp.401-411. Huijsmans, R., Baker, S. (2012). Child Trafficking:Worst Formof Child Labour, or Worst Approach to Young Migrants?.Development and Change,43(4), pp.919-946. Lu, Y. (2012). Education of children left behind in rural China.Journal of Marriage and Family,74(2), 328-341. Rodriguez, C., Sanchez, F. (2012). Armed conflict exposure, human capital investments, and child labor: Evidence from Colombia.Defence and peace economics,23(2), pp.161-184. Stillman, S., Gibson, J., McKenzie, D. (2012). The impact of immigration on child health: experimental evidence from a migration lottery program.Economic Inquiry,50(1), pp.62-81.